The President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil has
said cinema was a very powerful medium for conveying messages and it was
necessary for promoting constructive and value based thinking for a culturally
rich country like ours. This medium imposed a great responsibility on everyone
associated with the film industry to use the power of cinema to do good for
society, through the portrayal of attitudes that help in building a tolerant
and harmonious society. The President Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil stated this
while delivering her address at the 58th National Film Awards
function here today.
Elaborating further, the President, Smt.
Pratibha Devisingh Patil, stated that creativity knows no barrier of age and
that the human spirit has always been striving for excellence. The awards
received by 5 young artistes and an award for best writing in cinema to Ms.
Vijay Mulay at her 90 years of age was an encouraging fact, this would surely inspire
and motivate young film makers to give their greatest possible expression
through this powerful medium.
Regarding the potential of the Indian film
industry, the President stated the Indian film market has become more
attractive for foreign film houses. At
the same time, prominent Indian enterprises are also participating in producing
and distributing films around the world.
India’s
soft power was engaged in projecting the nation world wide and Indian cinema
had found markets in a large number of countries.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister for
Information & Broadcasting, Smt. Ambika Soni said that the Government had
moved forward in setting up the National Film Heritage Mission with an outlay
of Rs.660 crores. This Mission would provide
a platform for comprehensive solutions for cataloging, dissemination and
monetization of film content, video tapes, posters and other related materials
in the possession of either the Film Wing of Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting or with the various State Governments as well as with private
individuals and institutions. The
greatest benefit of the Mission
would be to enable the preservation of the invaluable filmic heritage of the
country which is an integral part of our socio-cultural heritage. 3000 films will be acquired and digitized and
3000 films will be restored and transferred to inter-negatives under the scheme
and will be available at affordable rates as DVDs to public for viewing.
Elaborating further the Minister said, the year 2013 would
mark the centenary year of Indian Cinema.
This centenary would be a milestone in India’s cinematic journey that
needs to be showcased and celebrated.
The Minister added, the Centenary celebrations would provide the country
an excellent opportunity to exhibit India’s ‘soft power’ on a global
scale and reinforce the idea of “Cinemas of India” alongwith the “Incredible
India” campaign. As part of the Centenary celebrations, the National Museum of
Indian Cinema, a first of its kind in India, would showcase the evolution
of Indian Cinema, which is being built in Mumbai and is expected to be
inaugurated during the centenary year celebrations.
Regarding skill development in the film sector, the
Minister said that the two Institutes under the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting, namely, Film and Television Institute (FTII), Pune and Satyajit
Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata were being upgraded to cater
to the ever-increasing, highly skilled and specialized manpower requirement of
the film and TV industry. Measures were
being taken to declare these two Institutes, as Institutions of National
Importance through an Act of the Parliament.
The Minister added that the winners of the
awards in various categories had reinforced the belief in the motto of the
National Film Awards that there was only one recognition “GOOD CINEMA”. The
‘Good Cinema’ provided a platform for film centres to emerge all over the
country thereby reflecting the vibrant socio cultural identity of our country
in the realm of cinema.
Some
of the key highlights of this year’s National Film Awards are as follows:
·
The Dadasaheb
Phalke Award for the year 2010 was conferred to Shri K.
Balachander, the veteran film maker.
The award is conferred by the Government of India for outstanding
contribution to the growth and development of Indian Cinema. The award consists of a Swarn Kamal, a cash
prize of Rs.10 lakhs and a shawl. The award is given on the recommendations of
a committee of eminent persons.
·
Four child
artists
were awarded the National Award this time for various films, these include:
1. Harsh
Mayar
for the film “I am Kalam” – resides in Dakshinpuri, Delhi.
2. Shantanu
Ranganekar
for the film “Champions”.
3. Machindra
Gadekar
for the film “Champions” - Lives in Dharavi, Mumbai.
4. Vivek
Chabukswar
for the film “Baboo Band Baaja”.
·
For the
category of the Best Actor & Actress
1. K
Dhanush
– First time National Award Winner for the film ‘Aadukalam’ (Tamil). The actor who is also Rajnikant’s son-in-law
would be given a Rajat Kamal and Rs.50,000/- cash.
2. Salim
Kumar
– for the film ‘Adaminte Makan Abu’ (Malayalam) in which he has played a
protagonist in serious role for the first time. He has been awarded the a Rajat
Kamal and Rs.50000/- cash.
3. Mitalee Jagtap Varadkar - for the film
‘Baboo Band Baaja’ (Marathi). She has been awarded a Rajat Kamal and Rs.50000/-
(sharing).
4. Saranya Ponvannan - for the film ‘Thenmerkku
Paruvakkatru’ (Tamil). She has been awarded a Rajat Kamal and Rs.50000/-
(sharing).
·
For the
Category of Best Feature Film, ‘Adaminte Makan Abu’ (Malayalam) film Produced by
Shri Salim Ahamad and Ashraf Bedi, were given the Swarn Kamal and Rs.2,50,000/-
each.
·
Indira Gandhi
Award for Best Debut Film of a Director was given to ‘Baboo Band Baaja’
(Marathi), Directed by Rajesh Pinjani, Produced by Neeta Jadhav. The
winners were awarded Swarn Kamal and Rs.1,25,000/- each.
·
The award for
Best Popular Film providing Wholesome Entertainment has been given to ‘Dabangg’
(Hindi), produced
by Arbaaz Khan, Malaika Arora Khan and Dhilin Mehta, Directed by Abhinav Singh
Kashyap.
·
The Nargis
Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration has been given to
‘Moner Manush’. The Film is an Indo-Bangladesh collaboration venture. One of
the Producers Mr. Habibur Rehman, is from Bangladesh.
·
The Award for
the Best Hindi Film has been given to ‘Do Dooni Chaar’ Produced by
Arindam Chaudhuri and Directd by Habib Faisal.
·
The film ‘Aadukalam’
has won 6 Awards in various categories:
Best Director to Vetri Maaran
Best Actor to K.Dhanush
Best Screenplay (Original) to Vetri Maaran
Best Editing to T.E Kishore
Best Choreography to V.Dinesh Kumar
Special Mention to V.I.S Jayapalan, who is a Sri Lankan actor
·
The film ‘Adaminte
Makan Abu’ has won 4 Awards:
Best Feature Film
Best Actor to Salim Kumar
Best Cinematography to Madhu Ambat
Best Music direction to Issac Thomas
Kottukapally
·
The award for the Best
Book on Cinema has been given to Vijaya Mulay at the age of 90
years.
·
The film ‘Ishqiya’
has won 4 Awards:
Best Audiography – Location Sound Recordist to Kaamod Kharade
Best Audiography – Re-recordist of the final
mixed track to Debajit Changmai
Best Music Direction – Music Director to Vishal Bhardwaj
Best Female Playback Singer – to Rekha Bhardwaj.
CP/ST